FFP 2012: The Beaches

Looking over the Fundy Coast from Martin Head shows how many beaches could exist here.

This is my last look at my spring 2012 hike across the Fundy Footpath with 3 generations of the Whalen clan who I introduced in the first hike entry - The Hikers.  It was a great trip and one that will be remembered for many years.  The parks, the tidal flats, and the waterfalls, are all notable on a global scale.  For me though, the best thing about the Fundy Footpath is it's beaches.

The beaches are full of a variety of tidal life.

When most people think about beaches they think about warm glistening water and long ribbons of white sand but, typical of the FFP, in this wilderness the beaches are even rugged.  The tides are the highest in world and so the beach changes dramatically every six hours.  With the constant flow of the Bay of Fundy the water never gets that warm and even during a hot day in July it takes thick skin to be able to swim.  If you could stand the water temperature, in order to get to the water you typically have to navigate over large boulders to get there.

Just about every time the FFP crosses a river it comes to the mouth of the Bay to do so.  Each time, the hiker is rewarded with the sound of crashing waves on rocky beaches.  Wolfe Brook and Telegraph Brook each have a steeply sloped, boulder covered beach, where wave watching is an awesome experience, especially on windy days.  At high tide along these beaches you are hemmed in close to the shore and it is hard to find a spot where ocean spray can't find you, but during low tide, you can explore the rock faces and smooth boulders.  Regardless of where the tide is on its cycle, both of these small, unconventional beaches offer something to see and explore.  If your into collecting stones, skipping stones, or as one acquaintance of mine does, balancing them, these beaches (as most FFP beaches) are a stone lovers dream.  If you like scrambling and playing on boulders these beaches are great during low tide as you can find crevices, caves, are passages that are fun to play around.  I like all of this stuff but what I truly love is finding that low lying boulder that has the right slant and smoothness that I can comfortably lean back into it and use it as a chair to watch the waves crash in.

Wolfe Brook has lots of rock and boulders to explore.

The beach at Martin Head is one of the most iconic locations on the FFP.  It is a long beach that resembles the more typical image of a beach, especially at high tide.  The long isthmus that forms the "Head" is very gravelly with well rounded and weathered rocks.  The Quiddy River delta is a mud sliders paradise and is full of thick, slippery, mud.  For those who like to build sand castles, there is lots of sand too.  There is no poor time of year to explore this beach but on long weekends through the summer it can be busy with off-road vehicles who like to use the beach as a camping area.  Why wouldn't they?  It's a beautiful spot to watch the tides and soak up the sun.  With the history of this place exposed at a number of locations it is easy to get lost here.  Your mind drifts over not just the scenes in front of you but also through those you can imagine from years gone by.

Martin Head  can be viewed from a variety of angles, none of which are bad.

A beach similar to Martin Head would be Long Beach.  As it's name implies this is a long beach.  Small airplanes have been known to land here.  There is history here as well, although not as obvious as Martin Head, it can be seen if you know where to look.  At high tide this beach is a long ribbon along the shore where in places it is impassable while at low tide there is an unimaginably wide beach over 2km in length.  The highlights here change after every storm as new drift wood floats in and old rocks are covered over.  It is worth exploring over and over again.

Seeley Beach seems to enhance everything, including fog banks.  How cool is that?

The last beach is probably my favorite.  I try to camp here whenever I can and I have never had a bad night.  Even when the weather is poor, it is like the old saying a bad day at Seeley Beach is better than a great day at work.  On a rainy day the sun seems to glisten off the millions of rocks and make it sparkle like the jewel it is.  The topography of  the beach extends it out into the Bay more than other beaches so you can look north up the Bay over all the ground you have or will hike over if you're hiking the FFP.  If you place your tent right and conditions are perfect, you can watch the best sunrise in the morning while you can count the Nova Scotia lighthouses in the evenings.  I watched lighting one minute here, double rainbows, and storms move up the Bay.  

As I finish this entry up I think about other aspects of the FFP and I've decided that I'll add an entry of photos with captions at a later date.  I hope that these entries have peaked your curiosity and you'll get out there and experience some of the locations I have wrote about on your own.  Happy trails.

FFP 2012: The Tidal Flats

Beginning the crossing of the Goose River mud flats

The Bay of Fundy is known for its high tides.  In fact it has the highest tides in the world and during the spring months they are at their highest.  At the upper end of the Bay they can reach a height of 16m.  As the water recedes each time it leaves a number of large tidal mud flats and during our hike along the Fundy Footpath we were required to cross three of them.  Each has its own challenge and rewards and the reward is always more than worth any challenge.  I would even say the challenges are rewarding.

The butterfly that greeted us on the west side of Goose River

The first mud flat is likely the most challenging and illustrates the height of the tide really well.  Goose River, at the western boundary of Fundy National Park, has a narrow valley where Goose River and a small tributary come together before entering the Bay of Fundy.  This means that we would cross two watercourses before getting on our way.  The mud here is deep and you can easily loose your footwear as my sister learned the hard way.  As we made our way along the river bank we had to watch the sharp shale bedrock that was exposed all the way around the crossing.  As we neared the top of the mudflat we looked back and absorbed the scenery and were amazed by how low the tide now was.  Not an hour earlier, as we ate lunch on the beach that contained the tidal flat from the Bay, the water was much deeper.  We crossed the river a final time above tide line and above where an old dam was once located.  I snapped a picture of a butterfly that was flitting among the boulders and grasses along the shore.  This was the official start of the Fundy Footpath and we were no longer in Fundy National Park.

Looking up along the shore of tributary to Goose River just before we crossed.

We had to hike approximately 5km in order to reach our next tidal flat crossing and we had to do it in less than 3hours in order to avoid having to cross way up stream above the trail.  Where the mud at Goose River is the problem, the issue at Goose Creek is the length and the water temperature.  I have found that, no matter what time of year you make this crossing, the water is always numbing cold.  As you approach the 3/4 mark of the crossing you can no longer feel your toes.  When you make it across the flat you sadly realize that you still have to wade through deep grasses that grow along the many spring fed streams before you get to the campsite you so long for.  The cold springs move the numbness from your feet clear to your hips it seems.  Once we cleared the tidal flat we made camp at the Goose Creek campsite and in short time we all donned dry socks.  From time to time we checked to see how much water had flowed over the flats we had not long ago crossed.  For those of us who hadn't seen it before it was likely surprising to see how much water filled the river valley.

The cap of Martin Head beyond the cold mud flats of Goose Creek as seen in a trip in 2009..

From Goose Creek you can actually see the next tidal flat we would be challenged by.  The scenic Martin Head isthmus is an iconic location and I will likely discuss it in a later post.  From Goose Creek we would spend our morning heading towards it through the wooded trail.  Before getting to the road we make a trail down to the long sandy beach for an early lunch as we wait for the tide to recede far enough to cross the mud flats and gravel of Quiddy River.  The muddy portion of this crossing is much shorter than the others but that does depend on where you cross.  There are mud flats at Martin Head that are great to play in and explore.  In some places there are strong indications of the settlements of years gone by and the mud flats no doubt hide much more.

The mud flats at Martin Head are covered by water in this 2007 photo.  Luckily we crossed a much narrower section.

The mud flats are just one of the great iconic features of the Fundy Footpath and I hope you continue to watch for future posts on this great hike.  I will continue to describe the iconic features of the FFP while providing you with a look into my personal views of this great wilderness area.  If you want to help with this great trail you can check out the Friends of the Fundy Footpaths or the Footpath website.